Harmony Kendall
Harmony Kendall is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. The character is portrayed by Mercedes McNab. Originally cast as a minor character, McNab's credited status elevated to guest star and ultimately series regular over the course of her tenure in Buffy and Angel. Biography Sunnydale High Harmony attended Sunnydale High, where she was a member of Cordelia Chase's popular clique, the "Cordettes." Harmony was particulary disdainful and cruel with Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris who consider her just like a nuisance. Harmony often accompanied Cordelia Chase who formulated a disparaging opinion of Buffy after Cordelia blackened her possible popularity after a misunderstanding at the Bronze Nightclub, which Harmony was a witness to."Welcome to the Hellmouth" Harmony, along with Cordette leader Cordelia Chase and the rest of the nasty popular Cordettes, caused fellow Sunnydale High student Marcie Ross to become invisible by their negligence of her, which in turn caused her to believe she was invisible, and that state of mind, along with the ever-growing mystical energy emanated from the Hellmouth, caused her to actually become invisible. While invisible, Marcie attempted to kill Harmony as part of plot of vengeance against Cordelia. Whilst Harmony was conversing with Cordelia by the side-staircase at the school quad, Marcie pushed Harmony down the stairs in hopes of causing her to break her neck from the fall; however, Harmony only sprained her ankle as a result."Out of Mind, Out of Sight" When Cordelia began dating Xander Harris, Harmony shunned her from their clique and usurped her position as leader of the group. Ironically, she was also momentarily "in love" with Xander, like all other women of the city excepted Cordelia, because of a spell provoked by Amy Madison."Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" After Cordelia and Xander's breakup, Harmony cruelly tricked Cordelia into thinking that she has been re-admitted into the clique, only to humiliate and reject her. She tried also to became friend with the new student, Anya Jenkins. However, this last was bored by her superficiality. After a vengeance demon granted Cordelia's wish that Buffy Summers had never arrived in Sunnydale, Harmony appeared in the alternate, hellish reality as a more subdued version of herself, again a follower of Cordelia's "Cordettes.""The Wish" Vampire In the final showdown with Mayor Wilkins during his Ascension, Harmony was sired by one of Wilkins' vampire minions."Graduation Day, Part Two" She rose as a vampire, having retained her characteristic pettiness, susceptibility to stronger-willed people, and an affection for unicorn figurines. Harmony began a sexual relationship with Spike, whom she called her "blondie bear." Neither Spike nor Harmony were satisfied with their relationship; Spike was frustrated by Harmony's ignorance and clinginess while she was exasperated with his endless broken promises and repeated attempts to kill Buffy."The Harsh Light of Day" They separated, although she agreed to rekindle their relationship after Spike escaped from the Initiative. Harmony quickly regretted this decision after recognizing Spike's renewed campaign against the Spike, and even chased him out of her lair with a stake when he desperately sought her help."Pangs" Harmony thought of herself as a major villain and was angered when people don't take her seriously, especially since the Scooby Gang saw her as more of a nuisance than a real threat. Spike's ambition to kill the Slayer apparently rubbed off. After separating from Spike, Harmony wanted to be an independent, strong vampire who could get by on her own; accordingly, she gathered her own gang and made her own attempt to kill Buffy in kidnapping Dawn, which ended in an embarrassing defeat, especially when both Buffy and Xander considered the very thought of Harmony having minions to be amusing. However, her insistence on taking their time rather than attacking them directly and even letting them feed became too much for their minions who eventually turned against her when she refused to let them feed on Buffy's sister Dawn, who they kept hostage until Buffy's arrival."Real Me" Her minions destroyed, Harmony returned to Spike for protection, and even agreeing to aid him in his attempt to remove his chip by kidnapping a doctor."Out of My Mind" Spike then realized he was in love with Buffy and even used Harmony to live out his fantasies with her, while making Harmony think he was merely appreciating her."Crush" Harmony was then swiftly thrown out when Spike reunited with Drusilla, a notion Harmony strongly protested. When Spike had both Buffy and Drusilla chained up, before making his declaration of love in front for the Slayer, Harmony intervened and tried to kill Spike with a crossbow as a form of liberation. Failing in that, Harmony left Sunnydale. Los Angeles Having departed Sunnydale, Harmony visited her old friend Cordelia in Los Angeles, without telling her that she had become a vampire. Harmony tried to connect with Cordelia, but had difficulty controlling her demon side. She entered Cordelia's bedroom at night, driven by blood lust, but apologized for her actions and intentions when Cordelia woke up. Cordelia misunderstood her explanation, believing her to be a lesbian until the matter was cleared up by Willow Rosenberg via a phone call. Cordelia insisted on giving Harmony a chance, despite the rest of the team growing increasingly frustrated with such habits as her popping gum or tearing pages out of books, and her references to her continued thirst for human blood did little to endear her to Angel either. She accompanied the Angel Investigations team on a mission to investigate a new vampire cult- Wesley reasoning that she would be more likely to infiltrate the cult as some vampires could sense Angel's soul-, but soon betrayed them to their enemies. Cordelia nearly killed Harmony after the team managed to escape, but, out of some respect for the friendship they once shared, allowed her to leave."Disharmony" Wolfram & Hart Several years later, Harmony tried to make a life for herself in Los Angeles. She gained employment at the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram & Hart, as a member of the secretarial pool. Harmony joined in part due to the building's windows being outfitted with necro-tempered glass (which prevented vampires from being killed by sunlight), as well as the firm's non-judgmental workplace culture and dental plan. A few weeks into her employment with the firm, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce picked her out of the secretarial pool to be Angel's new personal assistant, after Angel and his staff were given control of that branch of Wolfram & Hart. Wesley apparently thought that a familiar face would be good for Angel. Angel reluctantly agreed, on the strict condition that Harmony refrained from drinking human blood (she noted at the time that she had already been off human blood for several months)."Conviction" Harmony was reunited with Spike when he returned, first as a ghost and then in corporeal form. She tried to connect with him, and initially hoped to renew their relationship since he had a soul. Spike showed no interest for Harmony until he regained his corporeal form and proceeded to seduce her into a brief, disastrous fling, after which neither of them put any effort into rekindling their tumultuous relationship."Destiny" Harmony then felt isolated and alone. She knew that she was incompetent as an evil vampire, but her struggle to lead a more normal life was hindered because she lacked a soul. Angel often treated her with distrust and barely-masked hostility, and her input, ideas, and presence were generally ignored by his team. Harmony also experienced an inability to connect with her co-workers, who resented her quick rise to the position of the CEO's secretary. She was framed for murder by Tamika, another vampire secretary who wanted her job, by substituting her otter blood for human blood to make it appear as though Harmony drank from the victim. She cleared her name and ironically saved a demon summit by staking her scheming rival on a conference table with a pair of chopsticks."Harm's Way" Despite her incompetence, Harmony managed to prove a "sort of" asset to the team, "torturing" Eve to get information, although the "torture" just consisted of her hitting Eve in the face a few times. She argued that she was willing to do it given her 'evil' status, helping Wesley search for information about Knox's plans, even consoling him after Fred's death by pointing out that the girl of his dreams loving him back was more than most people got. She also aided Lorne in protecting Eve from Marcus Hamilton, her replacement as their liaison to the Senior Partners. She started a brief friendship with Fred Burkle and like most of Fred's friends had a very frosty relationship with Illyria, the demon who later seized control of Fred's body. Harmony ultimately betrayed Angel, revealing his plans to go after Archduke Sebassis to Marcus, with whom she had a sexual relationship. Angel, however, always expected her to betray him at some point, so he had only confided information that he wanted her to reveal. After her betrayal, which Angel blamed on her lack of a soul and she blamed on his lack of confidence in her, he fired her, but not before providing her with a letter of recommendation (which he had already written and signed, in anticipation of her disloyalty). As Angel and Hamilton prepared to fight each other, she ran off with the letter, wishing them both luck: "May the best man win!" Harmony later read Angel's letter of recommendation and was inspired by it to keep pursuing her own self-worth."Not Fade Away" Celebrity Life Harmony caused vampires to be exposed to the world at large when she bit comedian Andy Dick in an alley and was photographed in vampire face by a paparazzo. Afterward, she became the star of a reality show Harmony Bites. She also caused a major public perception problem to Slayers after one of them, a new, lone Slayer called Soledad tried to dust Harmony during a party. Harmony killed the Slayer, but used the media attention to drive the public against Slayers and becoming a spokeswoman of sorts for vampire rights. She appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 later on and declared Slayers a threat to society. Keith Olbermann was later mentioned to have given Harmony his support. Harmony began a new pro-vampire, anti-Slayer world order which is plaguing the Slayer Organization. On a later appearance of The Colbert Report, Harmony seemed to give away her motive, bringing about the end of magic, seemingly in line with Twilight's master plan. While on the show, she also candidly declared that she was evil and suggested she might kill Barbara Walters and take her place on The View. Colbert pointed out the implausibility of her being a vampire who wanted to bring about the end of magic. Although Harmony's reality show was cancelled, the vampire fad continued. Harmony later became a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, though she eventually lost. In time, Harmony became known as a major advocate of Reform Vampirism, which entailed only sucking blood consensually and never enough to kill anyone, and never siring new vampires. Sometime later, Harmony moved to Kensington in London and became a judge on Britain's Got Talent. Harmony was later blackmailed with a video of her siring a lover, and Harmony—fearing that the exposure would lead vampires to abandon the Reform Vampirism cause—turned to Angel and Faith Lehane for help. In exchange for his help, Harmony offered to help improve Angel's image, seeing as, thanks to his actions during the Twilight crisis, he was even more loathed and feared than Buffy."In Perfect Harmony" She owned several dogs, including Queen Puffles. When Spike briefly relocated in London to aid Angel and Faith, Harmony saw him again and had a casual fling with him once more, Angel arranging the meeting to help Spike get over Buffy.'Spike and Faith' After the creation of a Seed of Wonder, Harmony visited Buffy to strike up a deal regarding how what new rules they should set for the new vampires. Harmony proposed that they shouldn't allow them to use their shapeshifting powers during the day. She then stole the Slayer Handbook by distracting Spike. Harmony intended on using it to make herself the most beloved person on Earth, but Clem argued that deserved to be loved for herself rather than making people love her. However, he did use to the handbook to make unicorns exist, much to Harmony's joy. During the Supernatural Crisis Act, Harmony went on an international tour and stayed out of the United States, becoming expatriate.''A House Divided, Part Three'' Relationships Romantic *'Alexander Harris '- Like all the Cordettes, Harmony tends to demonstrate arrogant and derisive behaviour with Xander. After Amy Madison performed a magic spell to make Cordelia fall madly in love with Xander just so he could break up with her and hurt her because she reject him under Harmony's ultimatum, it backfired and made every woman (Harmony included) in Sunnydale except Cordelia fall in love with the "irresistible" Xander Harris; as a result, Cordelia was nearly killed by Harmony and the others Cordettes who were resolved to kill her for reject Xander. After that the spell was cancelled, Harmony maintains her arrogance with Xander. *'Cody Weinberg '-Cody Weinberg was a popular student, with a 350 SL. A night, he called Harmony at her home thinking of taking her to the pledge dance party. However, there's just two other girls he's gonna ask first and if they refuse, Harmony was invited. It's unknown if it was the case. *'Devon MacLeish '- Devon, Dingoes Ate My Baby's singer and leader had dated Harmony but ended it after a short while as he found her to be too "flaky". Devon later attended the Graduation Day battle, having witnessed Harmony get bitten. *'Spike '- After becoming a vampire, Harmony began a relationship with fellow vampire Spike. However, he saw her as nothing more than a sexual play toy and a nuisance rather than a true girlfriend like he felt for Drusilla or later felt for Buffy. While looking for the Gem of Amara, Harmony became so frustrating to the extent that Spike staked her, thinking it would kill her, but when he did so he was unaware Harmony was actually wearing The Gem of Amara so the stake didn't kill her. They broke up when Spike is captured by The Initiative, only for it to reignite again when he returned to her. Harmony was initially angry and weakly resistant to his charms, but gave in and slept with him once more. She became angry with his obsessive desire to kill Buffy instead be with her and in a fit of frustration, took some of Spike's stuff outside and burned them, including his Sex Pistols albums."The Initiative (episode)" Starving from a lack of blood due, Spike returned to Harmony once more. Angry, Harmony immediately told him to get out and that they were over. As usual, Spike attempted to seduce her again and nearly succeeded only for her to resume her resistance. She pulled out a stake and called him "mean", preparing to kill him like he had nearly killed her. Unsurprisingly, a weakened Spike left. Their relationship ended when Spike dumped her to reunite with Drusilla, however he didn't have as strong feelings for Drusilla or Harmony as he did for Slayer, Buffy Summers. It was always known Harmony had a strong hatred for Drusilla by referring to her as "Morticia" and "Dorkus". After this occurrence Spike and Harmony break up for good. The two are reunited at Wolfram & Hart where they have a brief but disastrous sexual fling. Later on, they are able to have a civil, humorously heart-to-heart conversation in which Spike alleviates some of Harmony's insecurities. A year and a half later, when Buffy mockingly calls him "Blondie Bear", Spike tells her to not call him that, as it reminded him of Harmony, who according to him, completely ruined Dancing with the Stars and was a "moron." Last Gleaming However, Angel later arranged for the two to have a casual hook up in London when Spike is depressed over Buffy.Spike and Faith A year after, Buffy reunited and in love with Spike was almost jealous of their affair when exploring Spike's memory. Harmony had demonstrate to support their relation in her manner, wishing that Buffy, Angel and Spike in a menage à trois. Later, she and her associate Vicki plotted to break their relation by trying to discourage them. *'Brad Konig '- Before being sired by Harmony, Brad Konig had been one of the popular students in Sunnydale High, as well as a member of the Sunnydale Razorbacks. He was known for beating weaker students in gym class and had also stood up Harmony in tenth grade. As a vampire, Brad constantly tried to please Harmony by getting her unicorns, for which fellow minion "Peaches" referred to him as "sire-whipped". However, when the gang decided to turn against their leader, while not actively voting in favor, he did not obey Harmony when she ordered him, Peaches and Cyrus to kill Mort. However, they are all dusted by the Slayer. *'Tobias Dupree'- In personal crisis, Harmony spend a night with this demon rights activists. Toby was murdered by the vampire Tamika in an attempt to frame Harmony and procure her position at Wolfram & Hart. *'Marcus Hamilton'- Harmony spend a night with Marcus Hamilton, revealing the plan of her boss, Angel to eliminate the Circle of the Black Thorn. In fact, Angel has been using Harmony to pass bad intel. Personality and Traits Beyond her shallow yet perky personality, Harmony's defining characteristic, from her high school years up to her employment at Wolfram & Hart, was that she always tried to associate herself with what she perceived to be the most powerful and/or popular (Cordelia, Spike, Angel Investigations, Doug Sanders, Wolfram & Hart) in order to ensure her own social status and, later on, survival. She also delusionally believed herself to be a great villain (similar to Andrew Wells), and constantly irritated when the Scoobies did not take her seriously, especially when both Buffy and Xander are greatly amused by the very thought of her having minions. Another one of Harmony's strengths, related to her lust for power, was her knack for survival. She was never perceived as a major threat, just little more of a nuisance than anything else. Harmony also struggles to be a villain or 'good' being a soulless vampire, but eventually gave up on both of these. Harmony had an affinity with unicorns. While living with Spike in his underground liar, she hung up posters of unicorns along with many other unicorn paraphernalia. When she led her own gang, one of her minions (and former boyfriend) took the liberty of bringing her a 10-inch ceramic unicorn figure imported from Thailand priced at $12.95. She also possessed a wooden carousel unicorn which Buffy used to kill another minion of Harmony's. While working at Wolfram & Hart, Harmony decorated her desk with unicorns as well as having unicorn stickers on her blood thermos. Harmony was also responsible for the uneasy truce between vampires and slayers, making a list of rules for vampires to follow that reduced casualties on both sides. The rules include that vampires could only feed on the willing and without killing them or siring. Harmony also came up with the idea of reducing the new breed of vampires' powers in daylight; demonstrating a decent level of competency on her part. Powers and Abilities Harmony had the standard powers and vulnerabilities of a vampire due to her relative youth she was far weaker than older vampires such as Angel and Spike. She was immortal, had accelerated hearling, drained human blood to survive, and possessed superhuman physical attributes. Like all vampires, she was vulnerable to holy items and sunlight, could be killed by decapitation or a stake to the heart, and could not enter the home of a living human without being invited by someone who lived there first. Unlike most vampires that seemed to possess natural defensive abilities, Harmony had poor fighting skills during her first year as a vampire, equally matching up against the human Xander in a fight. Over time after her first break-up with Spike, Harmony eventually began honing her potential, holding her own in fights against Riley, Spike and fellow Wolfram & Hart employee Tamika which was probably her best display of combat, displaying accurately timed strikes, blocks and flips. Additionally, she also killed a Slayer (by accident) and dusted another vampire by striking them with the very stake they attempted to use on her."Harmonic Divergence""Harmony Bites" For several minutes, Harmony wore the Gem of Amara, a mystical ring that made vampires invulnerable. Thanks to it she was able to survive being staked by Spike. Gallery Behind the Scenes *She was portrayed by Mercedes McNab. *Mercedes McNab auditioned for the role of Buffy. She joins Elizabeth Anne Allen (Amy), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia), Julia Lee (Anne) and Julie Benz (Darla) as an actress who was given another role in the series. *Main or recurring, Mercedes McNab was the only young cast member to be an actual teenager by the start of Buffy. ''She was sixteen years old when filming started in 1996. *Harmony, and Lyle are the only non-souled (named) vampires who have survived both ''Buffy and Angel. *Harmony Kendall first appeared in the unaired Buffy pilot as a member of Cordelia Chase's clique, the "Cordettes". *The character Harmony holds the record for the longest a character has been in the televised Buffy universe, being the only character to appear in both the Buffy unaired pilot and the Angel series finale. Counting only aired episodes, she is second to Angel as the longest-serving character (Angel first appears in the first Buffy episode and she in the second, both appear in the Angel finale). *She also holds the record for longest 'wait' to become series regular, what with her only finally becoming a regular right towards the end of the final season of Angel. She is also the only character to go from being a co-star (credited only at the end of an episode), through to guest-star and then ultimately star. *Harmony has appeared more often as a vampire than as a human. *Harmony's vampire face in the fifth season of Angel is noticeably different from her vampire face in previous appearances. *She is one of the four characters, other than Buffy, Darla, and Angel, to have two episodes named after her, "Disharmony" and "Harm's Way". This trend has continued in the comics with "Harmonic Divergence" from Season Eight, "In Perfect Harmony" from Angel and Faith, and two supplemental Season Eight e-comics, "Harmony Bites" and "Harmony Comes to the Nation". *Along with Angel, Cordelia and Darla, she is one of only four characters to appear in both the first season of Buffy and the final season of Angel. *Mercedes McNab later starred with Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Julie Benz (Darla), James Marsters (Spike), Harry Groener (Richard Wilkins), Jack Plotnick (Allan Finch), Amber Benson (Tara Maclay), Amy Acker (Winifred Burkle/Illyria), John Rubinstein (Linwood Murrow), Felicia Day (Violet), Chad Lindberg (David Kirby), Jack Conley (Gib Cain/Sahjhan), Jeff Kober (Zachary Kralik/Rack), Aldis Hodge (Masked Teen), Rob Benedict (Jape), Todd Stashwick (M'Fashnik Demon), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Sam Ryan), Megalyn Echikunwoke (Vaughne) and Ridge Canipe (Tommy) on Supernatural. *Mercedes McNab's role in Supernatural was a young blonde woman who was unknowingly turned into a vampire, referencing her role as Harmony in Buffy. *Mercedes McNab later guest-starred with Nicholas Brendon (Alexander Harris), Luke Perry (Oliver Pike), Juliet Landau (Drusilla), Clayne Crawford (Rodney Munson), Jennifer Hetrick (Ms. Moran), Edward Edwards (Travis), Jeff Kober (Zachary Kralik/Rack), Michael Cudlitz (Big Bob), Lindsay Crouse (Maggie Walsh), Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates), Bailey Chase (Graham Miller), Maury Sterling (Barney) Conor O'Farrell (McNamara), Sam Anderson (Holland Manners), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn Summers), Steve Rankin (Mr. Maclay), Randy Thompson (Aaron Kriegel), Nick Chinlund (Ellis), Abraham Benrubi (Olaf), Wade Andrew Williams (Gregor), Keith Szarabajka (Daniel Holtz), John Rubinstein (Linwood Murrow), Angela Sarafyan (Lori), Gina Torres (Jasmine) and Jon Billingsley (Evan Royce) on Criminal Minds. *In Season Eight, when the vampires make revelation of their existence for the whole world, Harmony becomes their political spokeswoman and had a similar role to Nan Flanagan from True Blood. *Becoming a celebrity, she is also a vampiric parody to Paris Hilton and, being a reality show star famous for her "leaked" sex tapes, Kim Kardashian. Appearances ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' ''Angel'' Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight * After These Messages ... We'll Be Right Back! (Only in a dream) * Harmonic Divergence * Harmony Bites * Swell * Harmony Comes to the Nation Angel & Faith * In Perfect Harmony * Daddy Issues, Part One * Daddy Issues, Part Two * Death and Consequences, Part Three * Spike and Faith Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten *''Day Off (or Harmony In My Head)'' *''Love Dares You, Part Two'' *''Relationship Status: Complicated, Part One'' (in cameo) *''In Pieces on the Ground, Part One'' Angel & Faith Season Ten *''Fight or Flight'' Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eleven * ''A House Divided, Part Three'' See also * Harmony Kendall (Wishverse) * Cordettes * Harmony Gang * Harmony Bites * Cordelia Chase * Spike Category:Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters Category:Angel (TV series) characters Category:Buffyverse vampires Category:Fictional characters from California Category:Fictional television personalities Category:Fictional cheerleaders Category:Fictional secretaries Category:Fictional murderers Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1997